Tuesday, May 06, 2014

2013 10-episode TBS J-Do starring Kimura Takuya and Shibasaki Kou as Ando Asahi, the woman he loves, wants to marry, and then needs to protect - even if it takes 100 years.

Matsushima Reiji is a genius who works at Tokyo Imperial University as a scientist (who studies worm hole theory), as does his younger sister, also a genius (perhaps more of a genius, even, than her aniki).

Ando Asahi is an upper-level employee of a software security firm, and one day she receives a request from an online player to accept his challenge at a game of Asian chess.

She accepts and loses, but because of the place where she works, she's able to track down her combatant using the tablet she's playing the game on, thus creating the first meeting between the two eventual lovers.

I'm no good at theories, math, or complex anything, and even after having watched this sci/fi thriller, I can't be of much help other than to say Reiji realized even before he met Ando that his life was in danger, and that he would need to figure out yet another complex way in which to keep her safe.

There's a death list circulating online with his name on it - and Ando's - even if she doesn't complete the circle because she isn't a rocket scientist like him. Without her or us realizing it, Reiji has been working steadily on a fool-proof way to keep Ando safe in the not-too-distant future.

Reiji-kun is what you want and expect Takuya-sama to be like on screen. Quirky, erratic, and with that unsuspecting smirk every now and then - the real reason why I adore the guy so much.

PLUS ... his hair.

Not long into this story, Reiji gets murdered (NOT a spoiler, so chill) and not too long afterward, an android with Reiji's features appears to save the heartbroken Ando from her fate: the fate Reiji knew all along was going to occur.

This robot doesn't have a street name other than 2113 II something or other, I don't remember. Anyhow, he's got no emotions because he's a robot or Android with skin and hair and blood cells but no soul or emotions.

I never get that part in these sci/fi things. I mean, in four, separate scenes, Ando Lloyd eats something. Do Android's evacuate, too? He never changed his clothes or took a shower, either. If they aren't human, then what is the point of their having blood and cells?

Ando got upset with Lloyd and kicked him, getting hurt in the process because he's 'tin man' material, and bullets either penetrated or didn't while knives were capable of penetration and producing not only blood but injury.

Whatever.

This was a great story that flowed well and had cool CGI that wasn't implausible or looked ridiculous. I liked the way they discarded defeated androids, too.

The aside characters did great jobs, but the Last Princess android was a pain in the ass.

So were the subs.

Ridiculous, stupid, lazy subs ... AGAIN.

There was even an American guy who is Japanese who worked at the lab with Reiji's younger sister. He was cute and all, but he should know better when cussing in English that sometimes it just doesn't work or isn't suitable for the context in which its being presented.

I'm not even sure if the word was uttered in Japanese but that the subber threw it in for 'effect' thinking it would be cool or something. He/She is wrong, of course, and they need to get schooled.

A majority of them do, but whatever.

The entire 10 episodes were devoted to saving Ando from a bunch of 100 years into the future robots all sent to destroy her - for a reason that was never quite made clear - and with each passing episode came each passing occurrence until our poor Lloyd has run out of juice and stamina to keep going.

Cue the ganbatte stuff!

It appeared toward the end of episode 10, and I was a little shocked and upset when it occurred, too. I thought for sure that this time it would be different and that they'd let up on it for once, but no.

The ending was a good one, though, and it hinted at a sequel, but anymore I don't hold my breath when things like that happen. I've seen it so many times now only to have nothing ever come of it, so ...

Takuya still has it going on, he's still worth watching on the big screen, and he's still my hero in the J-Do department, so that's why I tuned in. Still, the story ended up sucking me in as well, so it was a two-fer worth the time and effort to watch.